Page 33 of Chasing Dawn

I narrowed my eyes on my friend. He was a handsome guy, with shaggy, straight black hair, a crooked nose that was somehow endearing, and pursed pink lips. Was he flirting with my girl?

Talbot rumbled, “You’re going to want to take a step away from my mate, Rien.”

Rien, in the way only someone who was incredibly deadly themselves would dare, threw his head back and laughed at the obvious threat. “I was being polite, you curmudgeonly fuckers. Geez.”

Vance finished loading all our gear in the back of the SUV and raised a single eyebrow at Rien.

Rien rolled his eyes and climbed into the driver’s seat. “This is why we all drew straws about who had to come and pick you furballs up. Let’s go.”

Talbot opened the door and held out an arm so Dawn could climb in. She looked tenser, and I wondered if it was because she was back in her home territory. It was nice out here, although not quite as heavily wooded as our home, but close enough to be comfortable. The area was so large, I wondered why there weren’t more wolves or packs in the area.

I asked Dawn, and she shrugged. “Before our current Alpha, there were over a hundred members in the pack. He slowly ran them off, and some straight up escaped. Others… died, either in pack skirmishes or from disease.”

Shaking my head, I pulled her closer to my body. “It’s almost over now.” In forty-eight hours, we’d be back on this airstrip heading home.

“What are you going to do when this is all over? Do you want to go back to school? Travel? Is there a dream you want to follow?” I asked her.

“I think I’d like to work with the kids. Do you think the female bears would let me open an afterschool program? I could teach them to garden and read. Not bear things, but like, life things?”

She was so fucking good, I was going to find every single fucker who laid a hand on her and rip off their fingers one by one. “I think everyone in the den would like that. Cooped up cubs are terrors. I should know.”

Talbot huffed a laugh. “We were the worst.”

“I can vouch for that,” Vance said from the front.

She snuggled into my side, and I wanted to protect her, but more than that, I wanted her to be happy. I wanted her to wake up every morning, slide across my chest, and feel content with her life.

Worrying that she would use the den to hide wasn’t going to help though. She deserved time to heal, but eventually, I’d encourage her to find her true passion and chase it. That was my role as her mate—to make sure she was challenged and not making do with life.

Rien pulled up to a rental, and I climbed out. There weren’t many neighbors, which was ideal. We’d spend one day going over the plan, and Rien and Jez would run recon to make sure all the intel we’d gathered was still current. Tomorrow night, when everyone was asleep, we would go in and eradicate the demon that haunted the love of my life.

Vance growled beneath his breath. He hated this plan. The truth was in the tight muscles of his shoulders. I hated this plan too, but Dawn was resolute. If I ever wondered about the true power of an Omega, it had dissipated under the wave of reassurance she pushed at her Alpha. She’d stood chest to chest—well, chest to cheek—and told him it was going to happen.

It did. She was in the back of the SUV that we’d leave on the fire trail. She’d agreed to stay put until someone returned for her. She wasn’t allowed to leave the vehicle for any purpose, and she’d sworn to it.

It still sat wrong.

“It’s time to go,” Buenaventura grumbled beneath his breath. “Let’s do this, and you can be back in the arms of your mate before you know it.”

Vance nodded and leaned into the SUV to kiss her. “Stay put.”

She kissed him back, full of tenderness. “Stay safe.”

He nodded once and went to the back of the SUV to get his weapon. I leaned into the car that didn’t smell like anything thanks to the descenters we wore. “Love you, sunrise.”

She rested her forehead against mine. “I love you too. Come back to me.”

“Always.”

I moved toward the back of the SUV to get my gear, and Talbot took my place. He murmured to her quietly, and she sighed. Benson and Maxi didn’t have semi-automatics and would shift into their wolf forms before we reached camp. We were hoping Benson could subdue the weaker betas without any bloodshed, making them submit to his Alpha as soon as the old one was disposed of. It should work, even though subjugating people like that sat sourly in my gut. Maxi promised it was just while everyone was confused and more likely to lash out than listen.

I’d make sure it was. I trusted them, but power was a heady drug.

Talbot had his sniper rifle and would take to the trees. With one last longing look in Dawn’s direction, he jogged to the vantage point he was using. He’d keep everything in order and stop any surprises coming from behind.

“Let’s go,” Vente said, and we all peeled off into the darkness. I couldn’t help but look back at the car, the moonlight glinting off the windshield. I could see Dawn’s wide eyes as she watched us disappear into the night.

Tonight, I would vanquish her demons.